Electric iron



Sept. 15, 1925.

O. A. COLBY ELECTRIC IRON Filed May 9. 1923 INVENTOR 0/0 A. 60/b WITNESSES:

/' ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 15,1925. g V

UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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Application filed my a To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that l, (l ne A. (Cortex, a. citizen or the United States, and a resident of Irwin, in the county of Westmoreland and State of Pennsylvania have invented a new and useful improvement in.lElectric irons, of which the following is a specification My invention relates to electrically heated devices and particularly to electric irons.

The object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple electric iron having provision ti erein for the temperature of the working surtace substantially uniform laterally thereof.

practicing ntion, ll provide base plate heating element, and a topplate clamping the heating element against the base plate. The base plate is provided with an integral upstanding edge flange and the upper surface of said base late inside of said slopes downwarcly from a longitudinally extending central ridge to ward the sides and also toward the front end. A her is located above the it is suitably secured carries the handle member.

the si sheet of drawings Figure l top view of air electric iron embodying .11? invention,

2 is vertical longitudinal sectional view ther hrough, talren on the lines Kil -ll of ll Fig. 3 is a verticallateral section there thrrmgjh taken on. the lines Ill-ill of Fi l.

in electric iron 11 comprises a base plate 12, an electric heating element 13, and a top plate 14. The base plate is substantially trlangular in shape and is provided with an upstanding integral peripheral flange 15 that extends from the rear edge of the base late to the front end at both sides thereof, he base plate is further provided with a longitudinally extending ridge 16 that is constituted by a central portion of the iron bein cast relatively thicker than the side portlons thereof immediately inside the upstanding flange 15.

The heating element 13 comprises a usual resistor member that is insulated from the top and the'bottom late in any suitable or desired manner usua 1y employed in electric irons. .I may. divide the heating element into two parallel extending portions as illustrated in Fig. 3 or I may employ a single race of the base longitudinal portion thereof laterally c ma, Serial no. names.

portion extending over the entire upper surresistor wire are rought out to terminal members 17 formed by metal bars bent to substantially Lshape, the ends or the re sister wire being suitably secured against the lower ends of the respective members 17 by machine *screws 18 and'cdoperati g nuts 19 mounted thereon. Terminal pins are suitably secured to the respective bar trated and described specific embodiment heating element terminal ccn== struction, n do not desire be limi ed to as these constitute no of my inyenticn.

The top plate it is oi such dimensions to fit within the rages l5 its lower surface is beveled from a centre wardly and downwardly order that lower surface may suitably contorm to upper surface or the sole p te l i leave the upper beveled sir i plate 12 rough just as casting operation and l also the lower surface of the top plate it in a rough condition. lhis permits oi? dispensing with such machining operations as are usually performed on such parts of the electric iron in order that their surfaces may be relatively smooth before they are assembled in the iron. The bottom or sole plate 12, thc heating element 13 and the top plate 14: constitute what may be termed the body portion of the iron and these three members may be suitably clamped together by a single relatively heavy machine bolt 22 extendmg through the top plate and the heatingelement into the sole plate.

* A cover member 23 is provided, having its lower edge in close operative engagement with the flanged portion of the sole plate and held in its proper operative position thereagainst by suitable securing means such as a plurality of spaced machine bolts 24 extending through the cover member and into the top plate. A plurality of handle straps 25 have their respective lower ends clamped against the cover member by the respective bolts 24 or thelower ends may be suitably secured against the cover member by welding. A handle 26 is supported by is obtained late. The ends of the tofore been obtained by other means.

the upper ends of the two handle straps 25 in any desired manner usually employed in the art.

An opening 27 is provided in the cover member 23 adjacent the rear edge thereof through which the terminal pins 21 may extend and a block 28 of suitable electricinsulating material is provided, the block surrounding the pins 21 and fitting in the opening 27 to firmly hold the pins 21 in their proper operative spaced positions.

I am aware that attempts have been made to obtain a substantially uniform temperature laterally of the bottom surface of the sole plate of the electric iron by suitably forming the heating elements to generate a greater amount of heat adjacent to the outer edges of the sole plate. By making the vertical depth of the sole plate relatively less immediately adjacent to the lateral edges of the iron and securely clamping a heating element against the upper beveled surface of such a sole plate, I find it possible to obtain substantially the same results as have here- The lateral surfaces of the electric iron are effective to radiate a certain amount of heat when the heating element of such an iron is energized and the construction embodying my invention makes it possible to compensate for such radiation by relatively simple means.

As illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing, I may make the depth of the sole plate at the front end thereof relatively small and so shape the lower surface of the top plate at the front end thereof as to cause it to conform closely to the top of the sole plate. It has been thought desirable in some cases to provide means for causing the temperature of the working surface of the front end of an electric iron to be somewhat higher than the temperature of other parts thereof during the ironing operation, as it is the surface of this end that first comes in contact with the material to be ironed. The con.- struct-ion disclosed in the present application permits not only of compensating for the radiation from the side surface of the iron, and of either maintaining the temperature of the front end of the iron at substantially the same value as in the intermediate portions thereof, but also permits, if desired, of makin this temperature somewhat higher than 1n the other parts of the bottom surface of the sole plate.

Various modifications may be made in the device embodying my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and I desire that onlysuch limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art or specifically set forth in the appended claims. I

I claim as my invention:

1. An" electric iron comprising a base plate, and an electric heating element located on the upper surface of said base plate and co-operating with integral means in said base plate to cause the temperature at the working surface of said sole plate to be substantially uniform laterally thereof.

2. An electric iron comprising a heating element and a base plate having integral means for maintaining the temperature of the working surface thereof substantially uniform laterally thereof.

3. An electric iron comprising a heating element and a base plate in close operative engagement with said heating element, said base plate having embodying means for cooperating with the heating element to maintain the temperature of the working surface of the base plate substantially uniform over the entire surface thereof during the operation of the iron.

4. An electric iron comprising a heating element and a base plate in close operative engagement therewith, said base plate having integral means for co-operatin with said heating element to compensate for the radiation of the side surfaces of the base plate, whereby the temperature of the work- ORA A. COLBY. 

